Rio Ferdinand has described the furore over Wayne Rooney's expletive-filled goal celebration at West Ham as wildly excessive but said his Manchester United team-mate thrives on the "lynching" that has followed last weekend's incident.

Rooney's smartly taken away goal secured United's first victory at Chelsea since 2002 and established a valuable lead to take into next Tuesday's quarter-final second leg at Old Trafford.

This morning the Football Association is due to announce whether the striker has succeeded in challenging the severity of the two-match ban he received for swearing into a television camera. Ferdinand believes the suspension should be rescinded and that criticism of Rooney ought to stop.

"There has been a lot of hype about Wayne over the last few days and that will be resolved," the United defender said. "Hopefully the decision will go his way. We should follow him as a footballer rather than keep lynching him for a lot of the stuff that goes on.

"I wouldn't say he is innocent in a lot of the stuff that has happened but the reaction can sometimes be over the top. I don't feel sorry for him. He thrives off the attention. But he thrives off football attention rather than the stuff on the outside.

"Wayne Rooney swearing on TV, as much as much as I don't condone it, is not front-page news. There are bigger things going on in the world. There are things happening in Libya and Ivory Coast and we are talking about Wayne Rooney swearing at a camera. Because it is him and everyone goes over the top."

United hope the length of the ban can be reduced to one match, against Fulham on Saturday, though the chief executive, David Gill, departed Stamford Bridge last night claiming he had yet to hear the FA's judgment. Asked whether he expected to have Rooney available for the Fulham game, Ferguson said: "I don't know. Wayne just played his game. He got a lot of abuse and late tackles but his work-rate, desire and performance were all top quality."

Ferguson claimed United had benefited from "the first penalty decision we've had here in seven years" after Chelsea were denied a clear spot-kick and a chance to level this tie in stoppage time.

Ramires, latching on to Fernando Torres's flick, had taken a touch and eased clear of Patrice Evra when the French full-back wrapped his legs around the Brazilian and sent him sprawling, only for the referee, Alberto Undiano Mallenco, and his assistant behind the goal to wave away the appeals. John Terry, Ashley Cole, Ramires and Torres confronted the Spanish official, with their protests maintained after the final whistle as the players departed the turf.

"Someone said it could have been a penalty," said Ferguson. "But it was the first penalty decision we've had here in seven years, so we're due one. I don't feel guilty about that at all. It was a 50-50 from where I was and I don't know what the contact situation was. But there are plenty of things to talk about in the game irrespective of penalty claims and dives. My players were great."

Ancelotti went on to the pitch to pull his players away from the referee after the final whistle, though he subsequently suggested Mallenco had lacked bravery in failing to award the penalty. "It was clear for everyone," he said.

"The problem is I know it's sometimes not easy to give the penalty in the last minute and you need to have personality, courage and character [to do so]. Not always do referees have these kind of skills. Not just the referee but the assistant was in the right position to decide that was a penalty. So I'm disappointed. I said to the referee that it was a penalty and he needed to whistle. He said nothing. No answer."

There was still time after the Ramires controversy for Torres to be booked for diving after he crumpled too easily under the returning Rio Ferdinand's challenge for the second time in the night, prompting a furious reaction from the former England captain and a scathing assessment from Ferguson. "He dived and was booked for it," said the United manager dismissively. Ancelotti declined to comment on that incident.

The £50m forward has now gone 617 scoreless minutes without a goal since his move from Anfield. "We have to have confidence, and he has to have confidence and keep going and he'll score," said Ancelotti.

Looking to the second leg Chelsea's manager said: "It won't be easy, but we have the confidence that we can do it. Last year it was the same –we had to win at Old Trafford, and we did. We are at a disadvantage now, but our performance here was good. Not 100%, but we had opportunities and worked hard. We didn't deserve to lose. We have to change the result now in the second game."